How to say good night in German in 5 easy ways

What is good night in German? You may be wondering.

The most common phrase is ‘Gute Nacht‘, but you don’t have to say that all the time.

That’s because there are as many ways as there are to say good morning in German, and I will show them to you right now.

The 5 easy ways to say good night in German

Gute Nacht (don’t use just this German expression)

Yeah yeah, I know.

This is the most popular German word for good night, and it has been used, overused and beaten to death. 😉

So, why did I still include it?

Because it’s one of the most basic words in German and so you were probably expecting it.

And my job is to meet your expectations, exceed them and then shorten them to only what you need.

So why don’t we start by shortening the famous ‘Gute Nacht‘?

Nacht (short form)

What’s as short as saying bye instead of goodbye? ‘Nacht‘ instead of ‘Gute Nacht!‘

If you want to say good night in German in a brief way that sounds cool, ‘Nacht‘ will come in handy perfectly.

Life is too short to say ‘Gute Nacht‘, right?

Schlaf gut

There are some versions of German for good night that don’t include the word ‘Nacht’.

The first is ‘Schlaf gut’.

It means ‘sleep well‘, which is the same as ‘sleep tight‘ in English.

You can use it informally with your friends and loved ones, but with strangers or people much senior to you, it would be best if you used the formal Sie in German.

In this case, the words will change slightly to Schlafen Sie gut!

Schlaf schön

The other is ‘Schlaf schön‘, and it means ‘sleep beautifully‘.

There isn’t much difference between ‘Schlaf gut‘ and ‘Schlaf schön‘, and these words can be used interchangeably.

If you are, however, saying good night to a person senior to you, you have to say it the formal way.

How do you say that? => Schlafen Sie schön!

Träum süss

What is the moon made of? Sweet dreams!

And what’s the German goodnight for sweet dreams? => Träum süss!

Note this – you can’t tell someone ‘Träum süss‘ unless you have an intimate relationship with him or her or it’s someone you’d like to date.

So next time you want to flirt with someone who knows German or a match you found on Tinder, you know what to say. 

How to say good night in German in a way to impress someone

Now that you know the easiest ways of saying good night in German, you may be wondering how you could say it if you want to impress someone.

In this case, I’ll give you 2 ways to make you stand out.

Träum was Schönes

While everyone is saying ‘Träum süss‘, how about you put a little spin to it and say ‘Träum was Schönes‘?

This means ‘dream beautifully‘, and it will surely put a smile on someone you are trying to impress.

Angenehme Nachtruhe

Sounds complicated?

Well, don’t worry, because this word is very formal and you don’t need to ever use it.

It would be the same as saying, “I’m glad to make you my acquaintance” instead of “I’m pleased to meet you.”

Obviously you would only say such words not out of necessity but to impress someone, so go ahead and blow it away!

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And for more details about gute Nacht, visit the Wiktionary page.